Scottish Executive

BSE

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in responding to the BSE Inquiry Report.

Susan Deacon: A Command Paper was laid at the Westminster Parliament today setting out the Government’s interim response to the BSE Inquiry Report. The interim response considers the inquiry’s findings and conclusions along with the major themes which emerge from these such as openness, the handling of risk and uncertainty, the use of scientific advice in policymaking, the structure of Government and the legislative framework. It details the action which Government has already taken to address these issues as well as the challenges which must continue to be addressed.

  Many of these issues are of common interest across the UK. The Scottish Executive has been fully consulted as this response has been developed. I welcome its publication and the consultation process which will now commence. I encourage all consultees in Scotland to contribute their views on both the position UK-wide and the particular Scottish aspects which arise, to ensure that the final report is comprehensive in UK terms while also providing input on how further progress may be achieved in Scotland.

Care of the Elderly

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it consulted Her Majesty’s Government on 25 January 2001 prior to the Minister for Parliament’s ministerial statement on long-term care and, if so, whom it consulted and on what basis.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of issues, including long-term care for the elderly.

Care of the Elderly

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it notified the media on 25 January 2001 that the Minister for Parliament would be making a ministerial statement on long-term care and, if so, at what time.

Mr Tom McCabe: No.

Central Heating

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the central heating initiative working group last met, when the group is next due to meet and what progress has been made to date.

Jackie Baillie: The working group concluded its business on 18 January and has made recommendations. These are being considered and an announcement will be made shortly.

Central Heating

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12419 by Jackie Baillie on 25 January 2001, whether it will give an actual date for the publication of the criteria for entitlement to assistance under the central heating initiative.

Jackie Baillie: I will be making an announcement shortly.

Credit Unions

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it now has to support and promote credit unions.

Jackie Baillie: The Executive has been working in partnership with the credit union movement in Scotland, and other interested parties, to develop a national development strategy for credit unions, which will be produced by April this year. The strategy will identify the action required to remove the current barriers to growth and will ensure that all credit unions have access to support and development services.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations to Her Majesty’s Government in support of designating areas adjacent to the proposed M74 north extension as an enterprise zone.

Jackie Baillie: The designation of enterprise zones is a reserved matter. The M74 project is at an early stage, as is consideration for the development of the surrounding areas.

European Convention on Human Rights

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights are for education appeals.

Mr Jack McConnell: Education legislation gives a statutory right of appeal against local authority decisions about placing requests, exclusion and certain aspects of the recording process for children with special educational needs. We have no reason to believe that this legislation is incompatible with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and there have been no successful challenges to date.

Health

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were diagnosed with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999 and (iii) 2000, broken down by health board.

Susan Deacon: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. However, information from samples of GP records in practices across Scotland whose population is nationally representative suggest the following numbers of patients with multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) were seen by GPs in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999 and (iii) to September 2000 (the latest available statistics).

  


Estimated number of patients seen 
  



Year 
  

Multiple Sclerosis 
  

CFS/ME 
  





January-December 
  

January-September 
  

January-December 
  

January-September 
  



1998 
  

5,900 
  

5,200 
  

N/A 
  

N/A 
  



1999 
  

6,100 
  

5,500 
  

5,800 
  

4,500 
  



2000 
  

N/A 
  

5,300 
  

N/A 
  

5,900 
  



  Notes:

  Because of changes in the codes used to gather the data it is not possible to provide information on CFS/ME prior to 1999.

  N/A – Information not available or not yet available.

Justice

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Registrar General for Scotland will publish a policy statement about marriages at Gretna.

Mr Jim Wallace: I understand that the Registrar General is today issuing a policy statement on marriages at Gretna in the light of recent concerns. His statement outlines the legal background to the solemnisation of marriages in Scotland, summarises recent marriage trends at Gretna and sets out the main considerations taken into account by the Registrar General in carrying out his responsibilities under the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. The Registrar General hopes that his statement will be a useful source of guidance to religious bodies, who also have responsibilities under the Act. Copies of the statement have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Landfill

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce how it intends to implement the parts of the Landfill Directive that deal with the engineering, operation and regulation of landfill sites.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I am launching today a consultation paper that deals with the technical and operational aspects of the Landfill Directive and I am placing a copy in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. Large landfill sites (sites receiving more than 10 tonnes in any day or having a total capacity exceeding 25,000 tonnes) already come within the scope of the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Regulations, and legislation is now required to implement the Landfill Directive at all landfill sites. The Executive therefore proposes that all landfills be regulated by the PPC regime. The Landfill Directive requires the ending of co-disposal of different classes of waste at the same landfill site and bans the disposal of tyres, corrosive and liquid wastes at landfill sites. These requirements will have a major impact on both the waste management industry and waste producers. It is therefore important to consult on the proposed implementation strategy as widely as possible and I am particularly keen to hear from those who believe they will be effected by these changes. The responses of the consultation will help to inform the drafting of amendments to the PPC Regulations. A further consultation on a draft of the proposed amendments will be held later in the year.

Marine Environment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made or plans to make to Her Majesty’s Government regarding a review of OSPAR 98/3 on the decommissioning of oil platforms.

Rhona Brankin: The binding Decision 98/3 agreed by Contracting Parties at the First Ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission in July 1998 was reached prior to devolution. Scottish Office Ministers were consulted about, and agreed to, the UK policy position adopted for the meeting.

  This Decision constitutes an international obligation of the United Kingdom and, as such, is reserved to the UK Government under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. There are no plans to make representations about a review of the Decision. The Decision, however, includes a provision for a review by the OSPAR Commission at its meeting in 2003. The Scottish Executive will be consulted about the UK policy position at that time.

Marine Environment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it has into meetings of the Oslo Paris agreement on the protection of the environment in the North Sea (OSPAR); how many meetings have taken place and how many it or the Scottish Office has attended since 1997, and in what capacity it or the Scottish Office attended these.

Rhona Brankin: The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) has lead responsibility for arranging UK participation at meetings of OSPAR (the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic). There were 80 meetings in the period 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2000, of which two were ministerial meetings. In addition, there were a number of regional meetings, workshops and inter-sessional working groups. Generally the Scottish Executive is well represented at meetings with either participation within the UK delegation or at the briefing meetings convened in advance by the DETR. The Scottish Executive comments on meeting papers and contributes to the development of a common UK line before OSPAR meetings.

  During the period in question the Scottish Executive was represented at 28 meetings either as members of the UK delegation or, in some instances, as Chair or Head of Delegation.

Marine Environment

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has made into the effect on the local food chain of depleted uranium shells fired into the Solway Firth.

Susan Deacon: Environmental monitoring of depleted uranium (DU) is undertaken by the Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA) Radiation Protection Services. The programme includes analysis of marine environmental samples collected in the Solway Firth area, and the reports are publicly available.

  In relation to the food chain we are advised by the Food Standards Agency and have been informed that, to date, they have had no indication that there are detrimental effects on the food chain. Should monitoring raise concerns, the agency would investigate the situation urgently.

Medical Training

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether clinical geneticists are required to be medically qualified and, if not, what qualifications are necessary to carry out genetic screening.

Susan Deacon: There are four centres in the NHS in Scotland which provide genetic screening. Services are provided in each centre by a team led by a medically qualified consultant clinical geneticist. Co-workers in the team, including nurses, counsellors and scientists, assist in service delivery. However, the consultant is ultimately responsible.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all patients in psychiatric hospitals have the right and the opportunity to speak with a chaplain when requested.

Susan Deacon: Yes, however, a request may be denied if any chaplain’s personal safety came into question.

NHS Pay

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is with regard to the supplementary report of the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body.

Susan Deacon: I announced on 18 December that the pay recommendations of the DDRB were being accepted in full and without staging. The DDRB recommended an overall pay increase of 3.9% for salaried doctors and dentists and general medical and dental practitioners.

  To encourage the retention of general medical practitioners, the DDRB has also recommended a 7% increase in seniority allowances, worth in the region of £500 for a GMP with 25 years service. This is in addition to the 3.9% increase in intended average net remuneration.

  The supplementary report from the DDRB which is being published today covers areas of GPs income aimed at meeting the expense of running their practices and any balancing recovery from debts owed by the profession. In its considerations of what provision to make for indirectly reimbursed practice expenses and the operation of the balancing correction the review body have recommended:

  provision for indirect expenses of £23,790 for each GP;

  a recovery of £248 per GP in accordance with normal rules, and

  a joint review by the BMA and Health Departments of the operation of the pay system This should look at handling the cumulative overpayment that has occurred in the system (£2,684 per GP), the operation of the balancing mechanism and forecasting of expenses in time for next year’s round.

  We have accepted DDRB’s recommendation on the level of practice expenses.

  We share DDRB’s concerns about the operation of the balancing mechanism, the setting of practice expenses and the management of the cumulative debt. We have agreed that the BMA and the Health Departments should put work in hand immediately to develop a review of these issues. That being the case, the balancing mechanism will be suspended pending the outcome of the review.

  The average GP will benefit by a further £248 above what the DDRB have recommended. In addition, in conjunction with the other Health Departments, we will consider constructively how to manage the cumulative debt of the profession (around £100 million) for the benefit of patients and the development of practices.

  The Gross Income of GPs will therefore increase to £80,300 per year, as shown in the following table, with effect from 1 April 2001:

  

 

April 2000 (£) 
  

April 2001 (£) 
  



1. Intended Average Net Income (IANI) (includes 2001 seniority 
  increase) 
  

54,220 
  

56,510 
  



2. Expenses Provision 
  

24,510 
  

23,790 
  



3. IANI plus Expenses (1+2) 
  

78,730 
  

80,300 
  



4. Balancing recovery 
  

(261) 
  

(248) Suspended 
  



5. Intended Average Gross Income (3 +4) 
  

78,469 
  

80,300

Organic Food

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why more resources are being allocated to organic foods and organic farming.

Ross Finnie: Aid for the organic food and farming sectors is demand-led: these sectors are responding to increased consumer demand.

Prison Service

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is a significant difference in the number of Catholic prisoners as compared with those from other religious groupings and, if so, whether it will investigate the reasons for any such differences.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Each prisoner’s religion is among routine information collected on admission to prison. As at 29 January the breakdown of the prison population’s declared religious beliefs was as follows:

  






% of total 
  



Baptist 
  

4 
  

- 
  



Buddhist 
  

5 
  

- 
  



Christian - other 
  

77 
  

1 
  



Church of England 
  

65 
  

1 
  



Church of Scotland 
  

2,565 
  

45 
  



Episcopalian 
  

5 
  

- 
  



Hindu 
  

1 
  

- 
  



Jehovah Witness 
  

5 
  

- 
  



Muslim 
  

48 
  

1 
  



No Record 
  

91 
  

2 
  



No Religion 
  

1194 
  

21 
  



Other 
  

53 
  

1 
  



Roman Catholic 
  

1621 
  

28 
  



Total 
  

5,734 
  





  The Scottish Prison Service accepts all prisoners referred to it by the courts irrespective of their religion.

Textile Industry

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9643 by Henry McLeish on 19 September 2000, how many textile-related projects have been developed by (a) the enterprise network and (b) the textile industry, and which of these projects are receiving or are to receive financial support, specifying the amount of support in each case.

Ms Wendy Alexander: We are determined to help the textile sector in its transition from volume manufacturing to higher added-value markets. Since the Scottish Textile Forum was established on 6 June last year, nearly £3 million of public support has been provided to the textile sector in Scotland. The Scottish Executive and its agencies have over this period provided: over £2 million towards retraining of those made redundant by textile companies; £300,000 in Regional Selective Assistance to textile companies; £10,000 to support companies attending London Fashion Week; £449,000 over two years for the cashmere club; £20,000 support for in-store promotion; £20,000 for the development of a website for the Scottish textile industry; £15,000 to support companies attending industry trend presentations, and £20,000 support for the development of a national textile action plan. The DTI has also provided £70,000 under their Engineering Technicians programme to raise skill levels in the Borders and are currently considering support for various other projects from Scottish companies. The £3 million figure does not include a £1.2 million DTI Faraday award for the UK-wide Technitex project led by Heriot-Watt University in Galashiels.

Voluntary Organisations

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide any assistance to prevent the possible closure of the Community Service Volunteers in Clyde Street, Glasgow.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive currently provides grant of £64,890 towards the HQ funding of Community Service Volunteers. CSV’s Clyde Street office is not under threat of closure but some of the projects based there may be. Officials are seeking further information from the Director of CSV ScotIand to find out if there is any way in which the Executive can properly assist.